Loki is now D.B. Cooper Apparently

Marvel’s God of Mischief appears to tied to the legendary skyjacker in the trailer for his new Disney+ series.

At 7:59 pm last night, a frantic text arrived. “LOKI IS D.B. Cooper?,” it asked incredulously. That the mysterious message arrived from my friend Brian, the world’s biggest Predator fan and a manager at my local comic shop, indicated that big happenings were afoot in the Marvel Television Universe (yeah, the MTU is now, especially after yesterday, a thing). You see, he knew that D.B. Cooper is an obsession of mine, one that I’ve written about on this very site before.

For those who may not remember, a brief history lesson: On the night of November 24th, 1971, a man calling himself Dan Cooper hijacked Northwest Orient Airlines flight 305 from Portland to Seattle. His demands? $200,000 and some parachutes. He’d need the latter to carry off his plan’s masterstroke, to leap from the aircraft with the money while the flight crew was in the cockpit, thinking they were taking Cooper to Reno.

When the media picked up the story, Dan Cooper became D.B., and he was never seen or heard from again. The story became such a sensation that it resonates through popular culture to this day (most recently with the recent HBO Max documentary The Mystery of D.B. Cooper). Ultimately there’s a simple reason why Cooper is still the stuff of legend – he was a scoundrel who got away with it.

Sounds like a certain brother of Thor’s, doesn’t it?

It seem’s that the God of Mischief’s latest adventures have him teaming up with the Time Variance Authority for some yet to be revealed reason to achieve some yet to be revealed goal. And apparently, said goal involved Loki hijacking a plane and leaping out of it with a bag full of cash.

But is Loki actually portraying Cooper? Or just a copycat before he makes his jump into the timey wimey ether? Honestly, I have no idea at this point, and that is exhilarating.

Tom Hiddleston’s appearance in the trailer with his hair slicked back, wearing sunglasses and a sharp business suit certainly mimics what Cooper purportedly looked like…but then again, the infamous 1971 jump took place during night not day. My guess as to what is actually happening here is that Loki is most definitely taking on the identity of Cooper for reasons known only to him and the TVA. (It’s entirely plausible that the series is merely using the Cooper mythos for its own storytelling purpose a la the late, lamented Journeyman‘s “The Ballad of Dylan McCleen” episode).

What is most notable about this is even if Loki isn’t portraying Cooper specifically, the homage to history is undeniable here. In turn, a whole new generation will become interested in the hunt for Cooper. Although, as always I feel obliged to mention that at no point do I actually want Cooper’s true identity to be revealed. The story is perfect American folklore as is, and to really uncover the truth would dilute the Cooper magic. Besides, the world needs its mysteries. (I’m looking at you, monolith truthers).

The literal bottom line here is that if I wasn’t already psyched enough about this series, they went and threw D.B. Cooper lore into the mix. Those bastards, I love them all.

Loki arrives on Disney+ (by parachute?) in May of 2021.